Friday, March 12, 2010

The Sexual Objects: "Merrie England/Demonstration"

The next installment in my listening to/obsessing about/writing about the records I found in Scotland blog post series...

I arrived at Monorail Records slightly nervous about the possibility that I might have to purchase my records from one of my favorite songwriters, and that the words that came out of my mouth could range from anything to a simple thank you when my transaction was complete, to incoherent babble. I was personally hoping for a brief, yet thorough conversation where I said intelligent things about music other than indiepop. In reality, Stephen Pastel was nowhere to be seen, and I realized that the most clever thing that I could do while there would be to buy all of the records that would have cost me a fortune in shipping if I ordered them as imports.

One such record was a 7" single from the Sexual Objects. "Merrie England" b/w "Demonstration" on the Aufgenladen Und Bereit record label. I'd ordered one record from that label before, a split single from the Kingfishers and Wake the President. I was very happy with that still think "You Can't Change That Boy" was one of the strongest songs to come out of 2007. You'll hear plenty about Wake the President around these parts soon though. For now, back to the Sexual Objects. When I purchased the single I had not yet gotten around to listening to the band. I knew that it was the current project of Davy Henderson, Fire Engines' front man. That, combined with my already favorable impression of the label (who I think probably even took their name from a Fire Engines comp) made this one of my most exciting new record purchases of the entire trip.

I started with the "Demonstration" side. It's an intriguing, slow burn of a song with a somewhat 90s indie rock feel. Well, it's that, but something more complex. I've listened to the song many times and can't quite pin point exactly why it's so compelling, but it really is so compelling. In any regard, I'm pretty much always a big fan of any song that can retain it's mystery over a decent number of repeat listens. This one is no exception.

The other side "Merrie England" proved to be possibly more intriguing, and even more enjoyable. It bounces back and forth from a more upbeat take on that same 90s indie rock sound to a fun sort of ramshackle garage thing, and the undercurrent that I hear throughout the song is the exact sort of post punk sound that I would hope for from a former Fire Engine.